[Propertalk] Proper 19 c

[Robert P Morrison]

This was written about a week ago, knowing I'd be in Denver from Thursday through Saturday afternoon. I haven't had a chance to look at it since I wrote it, so there are, undoubtedly typos of finger and maybe theology 8 - 0

Anyway, fodder to aid the digestion or give severe stomach cramps! 

Bob

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY  THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JEREMIAH 4:11-12, 22-28						    PROPER 19 C RCL
1 TIMOTHY 1:12-17				  				12th SEPTEMBER, 2010  
LUKE 15:1-10					  	                    PSALM 14

	St. Teresa, surtitled “of Avila”, was born in the city of Avila, Spain, on the 28th March, 1515. She died in Alba, on the 4th October, 1582. She was reputedly the favourite daughter of her father’s second wife, who died when Teresa was fifteen.
Although in those days fifteen was marriageable age for a girl, nevertheless that must have been greatly distressing to Teresa. 
	Teresa is described as being “of medium height, large rather than small, and generally well proportioned. In her youth she had the reputation of being quite beautiful, and she retained her fine appearance until her last years. Her personality was extroverted, her manner affectionately buoyant, and she had the ability to adapt herself easily to all kinds of persons and circumstances. She was skillful in the use of the pen, in needlework, and in household duties. Her courage and enthusiasm were readily kindled, an early example of which trait occurred when at the age of 7 she left home with her brother Rodrigo with the intention of going to Moorish territory to be beheaded for Christ, but they were frustrated by their uncle, who met the children as they were leaving the city and brought them home.” 1
	I mention all this because sometimes we have a picture of saints as being stuffy, possibly characterless and often removed from the cares and manners of this world. Teresa was not of that sort.
	This means then that we can count her as someone who was realistic about life, about temptation to slack off, or to be discouraged easily. For me that gives added weight to a quote from her writings which I found recently.
 	“Help them,” she wrote, “to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start.”
	Now THERE’S someone I could listen to quite readily. Obviously, she was a person firmly in touch with God AND with us here on this planet.
	Jeremiah I’m not so sure about, though. Not about his contact with God and with humans. Certainly not! If anything, Jeremiah knew too much for comfort. He, and the Spirit through him, saw all too clearly what was going on with us. There were to be no “fresh starts” for Jeremiah’s listeners. According to what he said, God had had it with the people of Israel. They’d been handed everything on a silver platter – good, fertile land; thriving herds of cattle and sheep; plentiful crops; at one point, at any rate, decent relationships with neighbouring clans and nations.  What more could these folk have wanted?
	Jeremiah was – well, he WASN’T a bullfrog! – Jeremiah was blessed, or cursed, whichever way you want to take it – by being able to see behind all the fancy rhetoric of the politicians and leaders. And, like most of the prophetic voices of the time, had been ignored and chased by the extremist press and the leaders of his day until he had no one to give him comfort or protection. But, thank God, he never gave up – even when his words of catastrophic
 consequences filled his mouth with bitterness.
	You know, when some folk ask me if I ever want to go back to Scotland, I think for a moment, then I often respond, in what may seem like a flip remark. “Well, I miss some of my friends. But it’s too easy to live here.”
	It’s too easy to live here – what a great tribute to Oregon, to the U.S. I can fill my life with meaning and substance. There’s not much about which to worry.
	Now that’s not totally true – we ALL, no matter who we are, we ALL have things to give us pause. But we seldom have to be concerned if we’ll get one meal today. With luck, there’ll even be tea, and coffee, and cookies, and maybe cake, not a hundred feet from where we are right now. If only I’d stop talking and get on with the Prayer of Consecration, maybe we can get to refreshments quicker!
	Not to put myself anywhere in Jeremiah’s league, but that was the problem that brought about the fearful message of the prophet. The Hebrew people, most of the middle and upper classes, at any rate, not only had resources and to spare, they had the power too. And they wanted Jeremiah to quit talking so they could go about their regular rituals – their teaching, their farming, their store managing, possibly even their preaching.
	They could control who ate, and when. They could say who earned what and who was out of work. They could determine who went off to college and university and who didn’t. They could even say who got to go to worship and who couldn’t. And THE major problem was that they hardly even recognised that there were people without health benefits; that there were people who slept under railroad bridges; that there were folk who were being discriminated against because of their parents’ national origin; and so on, not a hundred feet from where many of the powerful lived and worked.
	Something had happened to make a good number in every city and village totally unaware of what was going on around them.
	Do you think all this talk about Immigration and Citizenship rights is something peculiar to the first decade of the twenty-first century? Do you think that spreading rumours and lies about how other people worship and how their customs automatically make them to be feared and hated is a feature only of this age?
	I’ve no idea when these all began, but from the earliest biblical records four thousand years ago we can see that ignoring others, being blind to other people’s humanity and needs, fashioning God’s will in terms of the wishes of the powerful has been part and parcel of human indecency for most of our history.
	Of course this is a generalisation – just as Jeremiah’s comments probably were. But the prophet had HAD it, and if those who DID see what needed to be done didn’t speak out on behalf of those who’d been stifled, and shunted off into the boonies, patronised and disenfranchised – if those who DID see, but said and did nothing, then they stood as guilty in Jeremiah’s eyes as did the others.
	You know, it IS too easy, in many ways, to live here. It is, and it isn’t. It can be so tempting to ignore one person, or one group, because of what we may have experienced in the past. And it’s SO hard to overcome prejudices and preconceptions, especially when they’re reinforced by twenty-five hour-a-day so-called news. But there IS hope.
	The Good News – maybe one of the things I DO appreciate about being here, and knowing some of the people I’ve met – the Good News is that it’s NOT pitch black everywhere. Not even for Jeremiah. “Yet I will not make a full end,” he said, as he re-presented the desire and will of God for all people. God will not wipe out all of humanity. God WILL hold us accountable, but God searches, and searches and will offer support and encouragement to keep some hope alive.
	Maybe not a hundred feet from where we sit, but probably not much further than a hundred yards from where we sit are the offices, and closets, and pantries of FISH of Albany, where some folk gather what others offer, and they sort, and then they open the doors and try to match needs and resources. Next week, as we heard earlier this morning, next week we’ll have a chance to contribute our undesignated offering to ensure that FISH’s shelves are stocked as fully and as usefully as they can be.
	It wasn’t my goal to paint a picture either of this congregation or of this city as being totally dispassionate. But I – and I’d guess you too – I MUST have my eyes opened. I HAVE to be reminded that fulfilling God’s will for me involved my participation on taking care of the needs of as many who seek my help as possible. I must NEVER prejudge anyone because of appearance, or speech patterns, or of the company he or she keeps. And where I need to be MOST careful is in listening and talking to someone who’s asked for compassion before. No matter what I may have felt previously, St. Teresa’s words apply equally to me as they do to those who talk to me.
	There’s ALWAYS time and opportunity for a fresh start; a new job; a new place in which to live; a new friend who’s sympathetic.
	That’s what so galled Jesus’ hearers. The things He did for others! It was disgusting! He sat and ate in the shelters, and in the jails, and, yes, probably under the railroad bridges. He went to court hearings. You’d find Him anywhere and everywhere. So, as usual, Jesus responded with a couple of stories. One sheep – one lousy sheep was SO important.
	One man, one woman, at the A.A. meeting, or who needed to be at the meeting, but hadn’t the courage or the self-respect to be there; one man or one woman who’d followed bad advice and had become trapped in a place in his or her life from where it seemed impossible to return; one man, one woman too frightened to go to FISH, or Helping Hands, or St. Mary’s – every last one of us in this room, and in this city, and in this nation – not ONE is outside the concern and compassion of Jesus. And if we dare to put anything in the way of another, if we label anyone else and stigmatise her or him – if we refuse to rejoice when someone joins us in grace and in ministry – then we stand as condemned as did Jeremiah’s audience.
	A two more short stories from me. Then we WILL get on with the prayers. Tea is not too far away!
	Recently, the President of Uganda told a meeting of African Anglican bishops: “‘There should be no room for intolerance because everyone is made in the image of God.’
 	“Uganda’s President Museveni said (…) that tolerance was a biblical imperative and that Christians should not ‘have one minute of time wasted’ by those promoting prejudice.
 	“Speaking to almost 400 bishops and other guests, President Museveni used the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan to highlight the need to overcome difference and pursue peace and healing.”
	Within ten years, however, first Catholics and Protestants were fighting and killing each other. “Then there was another war between the two of them and Muslims. They were all fighting on behalf of God, they said.” 2
	More encouraging is what a friend said she’d like as her epitaph. She’d hope it would read: “She did the best she could, and it was often more than sufficient. When it fell short, she rested awhile and tried again. Sometimes she succeeded. In any case, she got further than any of us thought she would.” 3 
	There’s even time and opportunity for a fresh start for me – and, with any luck, for you!
	Just kidding!! We ALL will receive God’s fresh start grace, day after day. But, “God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in ALL things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, …” 4

NOTES:

1 	http://www.karmel.at/eng/teresa.htm  
2	Posted On : August 25, 2010 4:30 PM | Posted By : Webmaster ACNS:
 http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2010/8/25/ACNS4725 
3	The Almost-Daily eMo from the Geranium Farm Copyright © 2001-2010 Barbara Crafton - all rights reserved. 30th August, 2010  bccrafton at geraniumfarm.org
4	Collect for Proper 19 C. B.C.P. Page  233. Emphasis added.

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Robert P. Morrison
Interim Vicar
The Episcopal Church of St Alban,
P.O. Box 1556,
Albany, Oregon, 97321

541-921-1076 (cell)
541-967-7051 (church)